Centauromachy - Centrobaric

Prev Next

Centauromachy (?), n. [Gr. �; � centaur + � battle.] (Ancient Art) A fight in which centaurs take part, -- a common theme for relief sculpture, as in the Parthenon metopes.
[Webster Suppl.]

Centaury (sĕnt�r�), n. [L. centaureum and centauria, Gr. kentayrion, kentayreion, and kentayrih, fr. the Centaur Chiron.] (Bot.) A gentianaceous plant not fully identified. The name is usually given to the Erytheræa Centaurium and the Chlora perfoliata of Europe, but is also extended to the whole genus Sabbatia, and even to the unrelated Centaurea.
[ Webster]

centavo n. a fractional monetary unit of several countries such as El Salvador, St. Thomas and Principe, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, and Portugal.
[WordNet 1.5]

Centenarian (?), a. Of or relating to a hundred years. -- n. A person a hundred years old.
[ Webster]

Centenary (?), a. [L. centenarius, fr. centum a hundred.] 1. Relating to, or consisting of, a hundred.
[ Webster]

2. Occurring once in every hundred years; centennial. “Centenary solemnities.” Fuller.
[ Webster]

Centenary, n.; pl. Centenaries (�). 1. The aggregate of a hundred single things; specifically, a century. “Every centenary of years.” Hakewill.
[ Webster]

2. A commemoration or celebration of an event which occurred a hundred years before.
[ Webster]

Centennial (?), a. [L. centum a hundred + annus year.] 1. Relating to, or associated with, the commemoration of an event that happened a hundred years before; as, a centennial ode.
[ Webster]

2. Happening once in a hundred years; as, centennial jubilee; a centennial celebration.
[ Webster]

3. Lasting or aged a hundred years.
[ Webster]

That opened through long lines
Of sacred ilex and centennial pines. Longfellow.
[ Webster]

Centennial, n. The celebration of the hundredth anniversary of any event; a centenary. [U. S.]
[ Webster]

Centennially, adv. Once in a hundred years.
[ Webster]

Centennial State. Colorado; -- a nickname alluding to the fact that it was admitted to the Union in the centennial year, 1876.
[Webster Suppl.]

Center (?), n. [F. centre, fr. L. centrum, fr. round which a circle is described, fr. � to prick, goad.] 1. A point equally distant from the extremities of a line, figure, or body, or from all parts of the circumference of a circle; the middle point or place.
[ Webster]

2. The middle or central portion of anything.
[ Webster]

3. A principal or important point of concentration; the nucleus around which things are gathered or to which they tend; an object of attention, action, or force; as, a center of attaction.
[ Webster]

4. The earth. [Obs.] Shak.
[ Webster]

5. Those members of a legislative assembly (as in France) who support the existing government. They sit in the middle of the legislative chamber, opposite the presiding officer, between the conservatives or monarchists, who sit on the right of the speaker, and the radicals or advanced republicans who occupy the seats on his left, See , and .
[ Webster]

6. (Arch.) A temporary structure upon which the materials of a vault or arch are supported in position until the work becomes self-supporting.
[ Webster]

7. (Mech.) (a) One of the two conical steel pins, in a lathe, etc., upon which the work is held, and about which it revolves. (b) A conical recess, or indentation, in the end of a shaft or other work, to receive the point of a center, on which the work can turn, as in a lathe.
[ Webster]

☞ In a lathe the Coloq. live center is in the spindle of the head stock; the Coloq. dead center is on the tail stock. Coloq. Planer centers are stocks carrying centers, when the object to be planed must be turned on its axis.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Center of an army , the body or troops occupying the place in the line between the wings. -- Coloq. Center of a curve or Coloq. Center of a surface (Geom.) (a) A point such that every line drawn through the point and terminated by the curve or surface is bisected at the point. (b) The fixed point of reference in polar coördinates. See . -- Coloq. Center of curvature of a curve (Geom.), the center of that circle which has at any given point of the curve closer contact with the curve than has any other circle whatever. See . -- Coloq. Center of a fleet , the division or column between the van and rear, or between the weather division and the lee. -- Coloq. Center of gravity (Mech.), that point of a body about which all its parts can be balanced, or which being supported, the whole body will remain at rest, though acted upon by gravity. -- Coloq. Center of gyration (Mech.), that point in a rotating body at which the whole mass might be concentrated (theoretically) without altering the resistance of the intertia of the body to angular acceleration or retardation. -- Coloq. Center of inertia (Mech.), the center of gravity of a body or system of bodies. -- Coloq. Center of motion , the point which remains at rest, while all the other parts of a body move round it. -- Coloq. Center of oscillation , the point at which, if the whole matter of a suspended body were collected, the time of oscillation would be the same as it is in the actual form and state of the body. -- Coloq. Center of percussion , that point in a body moving about a fixed axis at which it may strike an obstacle without communicating a shock to the axis. -- Coloq. Center of pressure (Hydros.), that point in a surface pressed by a fluid, at which, if a force equal to the whole pressure and in the same line be applied in a contrary direction, it will balance or counteract the whole pressure of the fluid.
[ Webster]

{ Center, Centre } v. i. [imp. & p. p. Centered or Centred (�); p. pr. & vb. n. Centering or Centring.] 1. To be placed in a center; to be central.
[ Webster]

2. To be collected to a point; to be concentrated; to rest on, or gather about, as a center.
[ Webster]

Where there is no visible truth wherein to center, error is as wide as men's fancies. Dr. H. More.
[ Webster]

Our hopes must center in ourselves alone. Dryden.
[ Webster]

{ Center , Centre } (?), v. t. 1. To place or fix in the center or on a central point. Milton.
[ Webster]

2. To collect to a point; to concentrate.
[ Webster]

Thy joys are centered all in me alone. Prior.
[ Webster]

3. (Mech.) To form a recess or indentation for the reception of a center.
[ Webster]

{ Centerbit, Centrebit, } n. An instrument turning on a center, for boring holes. See , n., 3.
[ Webster]

{ Centerboard, Centreboard, } (?), n. (Naut.) A retractable or sliding keel used on sailboats, formed of a broad board or slab of wood or metal which may be raised into a water-tight case amidships, when in shallow water, or may be lowered to increase the area of lateral resistance and prevent drifting to leeward when the vessel is beating to windward. It is used in vessels of all sizes along the coast of the United States
Syn. -- centreboard, drop keel, sliding keel.
[ Webster]

centered adj. 1. being or placed in the center.
[WordNet 1.5]

2. concentrated on or clustered around a central point or purpose.
Syn. -- centred, centralized, focused.
[WordNet 1.5]

centerfield n. (Baseball) the part of the outfield directly ahead of the catcher.
Syn. -- center.
[WordNet 1.5]

Centerfire cartridge. See under .
[ Webster]

Centering, n. (Arch.) Same as , n., 6. [Written also centring.]
[ Webster]

{ Centerpiece, Centrepiece } (?), n. 1. An ornament to be placed in the center, as of a table, ceiling, atc.; a central article or figure.
[ Webster]

2. the central or most important feature of an activity, plan, or object; as, the centerpiece of her campaign was a proposal to slash taxes.
[PJC]

{ Center punch, or Centre punch }. (Mech.) (a) A punch for making indentations or dots in a piece of work, as for suspension between lathe centers, etc. (b) A punch for punching holes in sheet metal, having a small conical center to insure correct locating.
[Webster Suppl.]

{ Center seal, or Centre seal, }. (Gas Manuf.) A compound hydraulic valve for regulating the passage of the gas through a set of purifiers so as to cut out each one in turn for the renewal of the lime.
[Webster Suppl.]

Centesimal (?), a. [L. centesimus the hundredth, fr. centum a hundred: cf. F. centésimal.] Hundredth. -- n. A hundredth part.
[ Webster]

The neglect of a few centesimals. Arbuthnot.
[ Webster]

Centesimation (?), n. [L. centesimore to take out or select every hundredth, fr. centesimus hundredth.] (Mil.) The infliction of the death penalty upon one person in every hundred, as in cases of mutiny.

[ Webster]

Centesimo (sĕntĕsĭm�), n.; pl. -mi (sĕntĕsĭmē). [It. & Sp.] A copper coin of Italy and Spain equivalent to a centime.
[ Webster]

Centesm (sĕntĕz'm), n. [L. centesima.] Hundredth.
[ Webster]

Centiare (?), n. [F. See Centare.] See .
[ Webster]

Centicipitous (?), a. [L. centiceps, -cipitis; centum a hunder + caput head.] Hundred-headed.
[ Webster]

Centifidous (?), a. [L. centifidus; centum + findere to split.] Divided into a hundred parts.
[ Webster]

Centifolious (?), a. [L. centifolius; centum + folium leaf.] Having a hundred leaves.
[ Webster]

Centigrade (?), a. [L. centum a hundred + gradus degree: cf. F. centigrade.] Consisting of a hundred degrees; graduated into a hundred divisions or equal parts. Specifically: Of or pertaining to the centigrade thermometer; as, 10° centigrade (or 10° C.).
[ Webster]

Coloq. Centigrade thermometer , a thermometer having the zero or 0 at the point indicating the freezing state of water, and the distance between that and the point indicating the boiling state of water divided into one hundred degrees. It is called also the Celsius thermometer, from Anders Celsius, the originator of this scale.
[ Webster]

{ Centigram (?), Centigramme (?), } n. [F. centigramme; centi- (L. centum) + gramme. See .] The hundredth part of a gram; a weight equal to .15432 of a grain. See .
[ Webster]

{ Centiliter, Centilitre } (?), n. [F. centilitre; centi (L. centum) + litre. See .] The hundredth part of a liter; a measure of volume or capacity equal to a little more than six tenths (0.6102) of a cubic inch, or one third (0.338) of a fluid ounce.
[ Webster]

Centiloquy (?), n. [L. centum hundred + logui to speak.] A work divided into a hundred parts. [R.] Burton.
[ Webster]

Centime (?), n. [F., fr. L. centesimus. See .] (F. Coinage) The hundredth part of a franc; a small French copper coin and money of account.
[ Webster]

{ Centimeter, Centimetre } (?), n. [F. centimètre; centi- (L. centum) + mètre. See .] The hundredth part of a meter; a measure of length equal to rather more than thirty-nine hundredths (0.3937) of an inch. See .
[ Webster]

Centinel (?), n. Sentinel. [Obs.] Sackville.
[ Webster]

Centinody (?), n. [L. centum a hundred + nodus knot: cf. F. centinode.] (Bot.) A weed with a stem of many joints (Illecebrum verticillatum); also, the Polygonum aviculare or knotgrass.
[ Webster]

Centipede (?), n. [L. centipeda; centum a hundred + pes, pedis, foot: cf. F. centipède.] (Zoöl.) A species of the Myriapoda; esp. the large, flattened, venomous kinds of the order Chilopoda, found in tropical climates. they are many-jointed, and have a great number of feet. [Formerly also chilioi centiped (�).]
[ Webster]

Centistere (?), n. [F. centistère; centi- (l. centum) + stère.] The hundredth part of a stere, equal to 0.353 cubic feet.
[ Webster]

Centner (?), n. [Cf. G. centner a hundred-weight, fr. L. centenarius of a hundred, fr. centum a hundred.] 1. (Metal. & Assaying) A weight divisible first into a hundred parts, and then into smaller parts.
[ Webster]

☞ The metallurgists use a weight divided into a hundred equal parts, each one pound; the whole they call a centner: the pound is divided into thirty-two parts, or half ounces; the half ounce into two quarters; and each of these into two drams. But the assayers use different weights. With them a centner is one dram, to which the other parts are proportioned.
[ Webster]

2. The commercial hundredweight in several of the continental countries, varying in different places from 100 to about 112 pounds.
[ Webster]

Cento (?), n.; pl. Centos (#). [L. cento a garment of several pieces sewed together, patchwork, a poem made up of various verses of another poem.] A literary or a musical composition formed by selections from different authors disposed in a new order.
[ Webster]

Centonism (?), n. The composition of a cento; the act or practice of composing a cento or centos.
[ Webster]

Central (?), a. [L. centralis, fr. centrum: cf. F. central. See .] Relating to the center; situated in or near the center or middle; containing the center; of or pertaining to the parts near the center; equidistant or equally accessible from certain points.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Central force (Math.), a force acting upon a body towards or away from a fixed or movable center. -- Coloq. Center sun (Astron.), a name given to a hypothetical body about which Mädler supposed the solar system together with all the stars in the Milky Way, to be revolving. A point near Alcyone in the Pleiades was supposed to possess characteristics of the position of such a body.
[ Webster]

{ Central (?), Centrale (?), } n. [NL. centrale, fr. L. centralis.] (Anat.) The central, or one of the central, bones of the carpus or or tarsus. In the tarsus of man it is represented by the navicular.
[ Webster]

centralisation n. same as .
[WordNet 1.5]

Centralism (?), n. 1. The state or condition of being central; the combination of several parts into one whole; centralization.
[ Webster]

2. The system by which power is centralized, as in a government.
[ Webster]

centralist centralistic adj. advocating centralization.
[WordNet 1.5]

Centrality (?), n.; pl. Centralities (�). The state of being central; tendency towards a center.
[ Webster]

Meantime there is a great centrality, a centripetence equal to the centrifugence. R. W. Emerson.
[ Webster]

Centralization (?), n. [Cf. F. centralisation.] The act or process of centralizing, or the state of being centralized; the act or process of combining or reducing several parts into a whole; as, the centralization of power in the general government; the centralization of commerce in a city.
[ Webster]

Centralize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Centralized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Centralizing.] [Cf. F. centraliser.] To draw or bring to a center point; to gather into or about a center; to bring into one system, or under one control.
[ Webster]

[To] centralize the power of government. Bancroft.
[ Webster]

centralized adj. 1. drawn toward a center or brought under the control of a central authority; as, centralized control of emergency relief efforts; centralized government. Opposite of decentralized.
[WordNet 1.5]

2. concentrated on or clustered around a central point or purpose; -- contrasting with distributed.
Syn. -- centered, centred, focused.
[WordNet 1.5]

centralizing adj. prenom. causing to concentrate at a center. Opposite of decentralizing. [Narrower terms: centripetal, unifying(prenominal)]
[WordNet 1.5]

Centrally, adv. In a central manner or situation.
[ Webster]

central nervous system n. the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord; -- abbreviated .
Syn. -- CNS.
[WordNet 1.5]

Centranthus n. a genus of southern European herbs and subshrubs.
Syn. -- genus Centranthus.
[WordNet 1.5]

centrarchid n. any of a group of small carnivorous freshwater percoid fishes of North America usually having a laterally compressed body and metallic luster: crappies; black bass; bluegills; pumpkinseed.
Syn. -- sunfish.
[WordNet 1.5]

Centrarchidae n. a natural family of fish comprising the sunfishes. See .
Syn. -- family Centrarchidae.
[WordNet 1.5]

centre (?), n. & v. See . [chiefly British]
[WordNet 1.5]

centreboard n. same as .
Syn. -- centerboard, drop keel, sliding keel.
[WordNet 1.5]

centred adj. same as .
Syn. -- centered, centralized, focused.
[WordNet 1.5]

centrepiece n. same as .
Syn. -- centerpiece.
[WordNet 1.5]

centrex n. a contracted form of CENTRal EXchange.
[WordNet 1.5]

{ Centric (?), Centrical (?), } a. Placed in the center or middle; central; situated at or near a center.
[ Webster]

At York or some other centrical place. Sir W. Scott.

-- Centrically, adv. -- Centricalness, n.
[ Webster]

Centricity (?), n. The state or quality of being centric; centricalness.
[ Webster]

Centrifugal (?), a. [L. centrum center + fugere to flee.] 1. Tending, or causing, to recede from the center.
[ Webster]

2. (Bot.) (a) Expanding first at the summit, and later at the base, as a flower cluster. (b) Having the radicle turned toward the sides of the fruit, as some embryos.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Centrifugal force (Mech.), a force whose direction is from a center.
[ Webster]

☞ When a body moves in a circle with uniform velocity, a force must act on the body to keep it in the circle without change of velocity. The direction of this force is towards the center of the circle. If this force is applied by means of a string to the body, the string will be in a state of tension. To a person holding the other end of the string, this tension will appear to be directed toward the body as if the body had a tendency to move away from the center of the circle which it is describing. Hence this latter force is often called centrifugal force. The force which really acts on the body being directed towards the center of the circle is called centripetal force, and in some popular treatises the centripetal and centrifugal forces are described as opposing and balancing each other. But they are merely the different aspects of the same stress. Clerk Maxwell.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Centrifugal impression (Physiol.), an impression (motor) sent from a nerve center outwards to a muscle or muscles by which motion is produced. -- Coloq. Centrifugal machine , A machine for expelling water or other fluids from moist substances, or for separating liquids of different densities by centrifugal action; a whirling table. -- Coloq. Centrifugal pump , a machine in which water or other fluid is lifted and discharged through a pipe by the energy imparted by a wheel or blades revolving in a fixed case. Some of the largest and most powerful pumps are of this kind.
[ Webster]

Centrifugal, n. A centrifugal machine.
[ Webster]

Centrifugal filter. A filter, as for sugar, in which a cylinder with a porous or foraminous periphery is rapidly rotated so as to drive off liquid by centrifugal action.
[Webster Suppl.]

centrifugate v. t. to drive out; to subject to the action of a centrifuge.
Syn. -- centrifuge.
[WordNet 1.5]

centrifugation n. the process of separating substances by the use of a centrifuge.
[WordNet 1.5]

centrifuge n. an apparatus having containers for liquids arrayed around a central pivot and rotated at a high speed, thus generating centrifugal force on the liquid, and separating substances (such as particles of solid or globules of an immiscible liquid) mixed together in suspension within the liquid. Suspensions which would settle only very slowly or not at all under gravity can be made to separate quickly in such a device. The containers for holding the liquid in a centrifuge are held in a metal frame called the head or trunnion. The solid material collected at teh bottom of the liquid container is called the pellet. A centrifuge designed to run at very high speeds and thus generate very high centrifugal force is called an ultracentrifuge.
Syn. -- extractor, separator.
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

centrifuge v. t. 1 to drive out; to subject to the action of a centrifuge.
Syn. -- centrifugate.
[WordNet 1.5]

centrifuge out v. t. to separate (particles in a suspension) from a liquid by centrifugation.
Syn. -- centrifugate.
[PJC]

Centrifugence (?), n. The property or quality of being centrifugal. R. W. Emerson.
[ Webster]

Centring (?), n. See .
[ Webster]

centriole n. (Biol.) one of two small cylindrical cell organelles composes of nine triplet microtubules, which form the asters during mitosis.
[WordNet 1.5]

Centripetal (?), a. [L. centrum center + petere to move toward.] 1. Tending, or causing, to approach the center.
[ Webster]

2. (Bot.) (a) Expanding first at the base of the inflorescence, and proceeding in order towards the summit. (b) Having the radicle turned toward the axis of the fruit, as some embryos.
[ Webster]

3. Progressing by changes from the exterior of a thing toward its center; as, the centripetal calcification of a bone. R. Owen.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Centripetal force (Mech.), a force whose direction is towards a center, as in case of a planet revolving round the sun, the center of the system, See Centrifugal force, under . -- Coloq. Centripetal impression (Physiol.), an impression (sensory) transmitted by an afferent nerve from the exterior of the body inwards, to the central organ.
[ Webster]

Centripetence (?), n. Centripetency.
[ Webster]

Centripetency (?), n. Tendency toward the center.
[ Webster]

Centriscoid (?), a. [NL. Centriscus (r. Gr. � a kind of fish) + -oid.] (Zoöl.) Allied to, or resembling, the genus Centriscus, of which the bellows fish is an example.
[ Webster]

Centrobaric (?), a. [Gr. (�) � a treatise of Archimedes on finding the center of gravity, fr. � gravitating toward the center; � center + � weight.] Relating to the center of gravity, or to the process of finding it.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Centrobaric method (Math.), a process invented for the purpose of measuring the area or the volume generated by the rotation of a line or surface about a fixed axis, depending upon the principle that every figure formed by the revolution of a line or surface about such an axis has for measure the product of the line or surface by the length of the path of its center of gravity; -- sometimes called theorem of Pappus, also, incorrectly, Guldinus's properties. See Barycentric calculus, under .
[ Webster]

Prev Next

Concept Explore Home

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z